It should not be assumed that any description in this section constitutes prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section.
A planetary gear system is often chosen when it is desirable to convert an input rotation into a desired output rotation. Often, the gear ratio of a planetary gear assembly is designed so that the output rotation has a unique angular velocity and torque, which differ from those of the input rotation. A planetary gear assembly is often used to convert a rotational input to a rotational output having torque and angular velocity characteristics suitable for a particular application.
A conventional planetary gear assembly is generally configured from a sun gear, numerous planet gears, and a ring gear. The sun gear is characterized by a toothed exterior periphery. It is this sun gear that defines the central axis in a standard planetary gear. The planet gears each have a toothed exterior periphery that is configured to mesh with the toothed exterior periphery of the sun gear. The ring gear is characterized by a toothed interior periphery that is configured to mesh with the toothed exterior periphery of the planet gears. In some planetary gear configurations, a carrier is also included and connected to each of the planet gears.